The goal of this segment is to show that the multiplication of disciples continued, and is continuing, after the ministry of the 12 Apostles.
Read the following historical quotes:
50 years after the book of Acts, Pliny, the governor of the remote province of Bithynia, wrote to Emperor Trajan:
Pliny also noted that many of the pagan temples had become empty. The revolution of discipleship had shaken the foundations of the empire, permeating every level of society, affecting the rich and the poor, the young and the old, the city dwellers and the villagers. It was a real revolution.
Tertullian, the early apologist of the Church, wrote the following in the year 197 AD to the rulers of Rome about the growth of the number of followers of Christ:
In the comments section below write what surprises you the most regarding the growth of the number of followers of Christ during the first two centuries of our era?
Disciple making movements in our day
Just like in the book of Acts, God continues today to create wonderful multiplication of disciples. Many researchers and evangelical ministries testify that there are over 1000 recorded disciple multiplying movements in the world in 2020. Below are some stories of movements that are happening today!
One of these ministries investigated a movement in Asia, which according to many witnesses, had multiplied powerfully. Ying Kai and his family were directly connected to this movement. As it turned out, the numbers in the reports were underreported. There were, in fact, a lot more believers in the groups. Through the grace of God and the faithfulness of Ying Kai and his disciples, 53,430 people were baptized and 3,535 discipleship groups were founded during the first year of the movement. In the second year, 104,542 people were baptized and the number of discipleship groups grew to 9,320. This incredible multiplication continued each year. In 2010 in only nine months, 206,204 people were baptized and 18,368 discipleship groups were formed. In total, over a 10 year period, 1,738,143 people became disciples forming 158,993 new discipleship groups.
We find another example among the Bhojpuri people in India, where in 15 years over 80,000 new disciples groups were formed. In the state of Odisha, the disciple making movement created over 4,500 new groups in four years of ministry.
In Sierra-Leone over the course of 11 years of disciple making ministry, over 18,000 discipleship groups were created with an average of 37 disciples in each. In this movement, discipleship had gone beyond the 21st generation of multiplication.
In the USA, where many think nothing is happening, a disciple making movement appeared in 2006. It began in the western part of the country and seven years later, in 2013, over 1,100 discipleship groups already existed. Through them the Good News spread into seven more countries in Latin America.
Elephants achieve sexual maturity at the age of 18 years. One pair of elephants can conceive once in three years. One calf can be born in that time (gestation is 22 months). In three years, a family of two grows to a family of three.
Rabbits achieve sexual maturity in four months and procreate almost constantly. A rabbit’s pregnancy lasts one month and produces an average of seven kits. In three years, two rabbits can become 476,000,000 rabbits.
Answer the following questions in the comment section below:
- How is “addition” different from “multiplication”?
- What is the advantage of “multiplication”?
- How can the principle of multiplication be applied in your ministry?
